Jon looked at her instrument, holding the wood delicately upon her talons. Could this.. really make her some money? She didn't want to come across as a beggar in this world but surly if she was just entertaining guests, and not in the street- well- that was a bit different. She was certainly okay with it, and being given room and board was more then she could have asked under these circumstances. Her talons were enterprisingly dexterous, and the tough skin helped her plunk the strings better then ordinary human fingers... which was a slight bonus despite the loss of reach in some strings. She had given a lot of thought on how to warm up her acts first, with soft mellowed tunes to start with and ease herself into the audience. It had been years since she did anything like this and never on her own before... with all eyes upon her, what if she messed up?
She tried to imagine her audience, picturing their faces... none of them the same... different species perhaps even with different tastes. There would be -some- humans amongst them, spread into the crowd. How would they judge her performance? Given that this was a city that was in essence similar to any other human-like city they might have similar tastes in art...
Then she wondered how they would perceive her. Would they see through her body and know that inside something wasn't right? In some ways though, being in a new body was like a chance to indulge in being someone completely different; not Jon of Earth but... a bard with songs from far away. Once she got back to her own body, she need not worry if she was good or bad at this current moment in time. Indeed she didn't feel like she had to worry one way or the other as her thoughts crystallized into a strange clarity of confidence. So much so she felt herself puff up her feathers in a showy display in a mirror- then glanced left and right in case Maggie saw her. She would never live it down that she was actually looking at how best to present her body in a confident way.
As if on cue, Maggie appeared, working the curtain. "Hey there! Are we ready?" She beamed from ear to ear, and was very excited. "Have you seen this? They call it rope! It moves this?"
Jon suppressed a smile and patted the girl's head with her wing. "They do have a lot of interesting things here I'm sure." She then examined the instrument on her talons to get the feel for it. "I'm... yeah... almost... you think you can sing to the tune?" They only had a few hours to practice. Maggie seemed quite gifted though.
"Sure! Easy as making a nest. I did have to sing a lot in the trees you know" She giggled. Maggie was also really into the idea of singing, maybe even dance. She wanted to show these people that a harpy knew how to sing really well! Not to mention all the possible shiny stones that would go her way.
The bartender looked to the two as they prepared and set up the stage. "Oh, you're bringing in your sister in the act? That's adorable, people will pay well for that!" he clasped his hands eagerly.
"She's not my-"
Maggie quickly got between them. "Oh sure,!I would do anything for my big sister, yep!" Maggie fluttered her wings. "She'll let me stay up late if we do really well."
The bartender grinned. "Heh, well I wish you both the best of luck. People here can be a bit fussy at times, but they are generous when they hear what they like. I'm sure they will love you."
Jon nodded. "We're as ready as ever... let's do it."
The room was a bit dimmer in the evening, with some candles on each table. Jon spied all those sitting with quiet interest. She had never realised how many species there could be on this world, and it was quite heart warming to see them all living so peacefully. While the new harpy-girl had predominately seen mammalian species, she was intrigued to see some reptiles and amphibians too. A crocodile man of some kind was at the bar, drinking a glass casually, and next to him was a rabbit-woman. She seemed quite enamoured by him as he told an amusing anecdote- though Jon didn't pay much attention to the punchline. She thought she saw one of each possible conceivable species.
"I wonder how that works here," Jon quietly thought at the idea of mixed species interacting like this. There was also the occasional human, pretty much as ubiquitous as any other species here. She saw some interesting with the other races as if they were like anyone else. Hardly dominating, but not unnoticeable, dressed in togas or tunics- the occasional dress on a lady- or animal fur from that barbarian-like human which gave Jon a bit of a chill...
If Jon made any guess it was that this place had over half the population being mammals- of which humans were included, the rest might be birds, and a small minority of cold blooded species. She had not seen any insects though; but she wasn't sure if they existed or not. Perhaps it was best not to make too many assumptions based on just this one audience. There was also a curious lack of.. mythological species. Elves, fairies or other myth races. He had yet to run into a fairy yet but didn't think it was impossible in this strange city of Alethia.
The young harpy made her way to the stage. She was about to start when- 'Oh God no-'
"Hey all!" Maggie suddenly waved her wings happily. "I want to introduce my big sister Jen! She an' me are gonna sing you a song about the Fey Forest. I hope you enjoy it!"
There were murmurs of intrigue as the audience looked to the two of them. "How can they be from the fey forest? She's wearing clothes.." said a cat-like male. A woman, who was quite short with rat-like features grinned at that. "I didn't think harpies ever wore clothes. It must be part of her act.. it does make her look exotic, doesn't it?"
Jon gasped slightly. She was wearing clothes to appear... well.. normal? Though in this world if harpies didn't wear clothes... she wasn't sure how she would look to humans. Exotic? very... interesting? Was it possible that she might even be considered... pretty? She pushed away those thoughts as it broke through the mask of her current 'performing persona'. "Yes- thank you for having me tonight... I bring you songs from lands afar... I hope you enjoy them. "Her talons worked on the song in her mind... somehow conveying it with ease.
Her playing continued and sure enough, a few people gave the two harpies gold. Jon had to remind Maggie not to take them too obviously.. still they seemed to have made a good impression in the town. Indeed one on-looker was studying Jon intently. At first the harpy thought it was a human, but the long ears made her look more like an elf. Jon was caught unaware by the intensity of her eyes. She seemed to remind Jon of someone... someone back in her own world but- whoever it was it escaped her now. Still if he pictured her moon-white hair as another colour... hm...
Diana felt terrible as she returned back to the village. Not for the wrong reason either... she had been stupid. She didn't know entirely what she was feeling but the answer to every question came back to her starting with the following; "you are a kid." It was sometimes punctuated by another line "You are a little girl."
she slumped down against a tree. This was no Legend of Zelda game where a kid could take on armies. This was real. She had run away from her home, she was on her own and entirely dependent on the kindness of the Clockwork girl Sarah, and Tom. Age... her age mattered. It mattered a great deal, given the weakness of her body and impulsive thoughts that prevented her from thinking... logically. It was all just so emotional as everything done or remembered left a big impression defining the next set of beliefs until she derailed. Her every thought was based on an emotional reaction and no matter what she did she couldn't stop it! She wanted to cry but if she did that, it would only make Sarah and Tom think they had done something wrong when it was entirely her. They might even leave her... they might...
'Get a hold of yourself," she rubbed her eyes. 'They won't leave you not like-' Then a flash. A memory from his previous life.
everyone left.
He grew up, and they left. His old friends from childhood, decided they didn't want to be friends any more just because they grew up. Teachers that had nothing left to teach... family that went abroad to work, and his parents that split apart- decades ago, but in this young mind all that stuff came as if it was yesterday. Why would so many people leave her... why...
was it honestly her? Diana took a breath. This was too much for her mind to contemplate right now. She longed to return to childhood, missing those things and it brought all this bagage she thought she long left behind. She just wanted to go home... but if life had taught her anything that desire was insidious in where it would take you. Life followed a path and each twist and turn made you think you were getting back but you can only ever go forward.
She was a kid... what... should a kid do? She then noticed some of the other animal folk playing a weird game now that the market stalls were being dismanteled. It looked like football, but it looked like it also involved using their tails. He watched the kids play, and she thought she could work out the rules. If the ball hit someone's tail three times they were out... it looked like one kid who didn't have a tail- or at least a very short one, they applied the rule to his horns. So.. this was a game of dodgeball? With two nets as well which must be like a goal. "M-Miss Sarah? Can I... go play?" She asked hopefully.
Sarah suddenly beamed and smiled. That would be perfect for Diana to go mingle with some of the locals here her own age. "Of course you can. Just don't get hurt, that game looks a bit lethal.. maybe you can ask them to play something less rough?"
Diana huffed a bit. "I'm gonna win..."
Sarah went back to Millicent's burrow. The last few hours had been intense. Tom looked at her. "Hey I was worried you ran off quick- you don't need winding do you?"
"No I'm good. Diana managed it. She's.. a bit over excited about our journey. An awful lot of energy in her..." she frowned a little. "Do you think we should take her?"
Tom shrugged. "Well to be honest, she looks like she's going to go anyway. I like the kid, I'll keep an eye out for her don't worry. We have to focus on you though and getting you back home. Is that body of yours feeling okay?"
Sarah gave a nod, blinking with a smooth artificial clicks and motions. "I guess you could say I've had a trial by fire," she laughed. "Though in all honesty, I don't feel tired. I feel like this body could go on forever."
Tom bit his lip at that. " it could." he admitted as he took out the plans of Sarah's body, and had been making notes. "There's... a few things you should know. Your body is quite durable but there are some areas which are fragile. Most are analogues to human- but- deep inside there," he pointed to her chest. "Right there... you got a soul crystal. If anything happened to that..."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked warily as she touched her chest.
"I'm not sure. In a human body it's not possible to damage a soul. We just die... but for someone like you, your soul is housed in a magic box that nobody knows anything about. If it is damaged, hopefully your soul will just do what a normal human soul would do... if not, your soul could be damaged too, and still contained or released in that state. I don't know what happens at that point, let's just hope it never happens."
Sarah nodded, feeling more then a little tense at this sudden realization. "Aside from that.. how long can this body last?"
"Assuming you replace your parts from wear and tear... forever. The only concern is the soul-crystal, which can not be replaced. It does not suffer the same wear and tear as other things though, so it should last in the thousands of years according to legend."
"If that is true... what happened to the others? You said others were like me?"
Tom nodded. "Aye, there were others. There are different suggestions on what happened but.. the prevailing theory is.. that they all got bored and decided to.. move on."
Sarah blanched at that.
"Yeah, grim theory. Don't worry though I plan to make the next few days as interesting as possible. If you are with us for a few years, I'll bring you something new for as long as I'm around." He drew in closer and gave her a big hug.
